Laura Stankus, left, comforts her roommate, Kristen McGrory, outside of their burned-out apartment on the top floor at 245 Village Circle Way in Manchester on Friday. Stankus’s neighbor, William Halloran, 55, died from smoke inhalation.
Laura Stankus, at right, and her roommate, Kristen McGrory, look at their belongings scattered on the ground outside of their burned-out apartment at 245 Village Circle Way in Manchester on April 26, 2024.
Laura Stankus, left, comforts her roommate, Kristen McGrory, outside of their burned-out apartment on the top floor at 245 Village Circle Way in Manchester on Friday. Stankus’s neighbor, William Halloran, 55, died from smoke inhalation.
Standing in her pajamas and still smelling of smoke, Laura Stankus gasped as the morning sun revealed the charred remains of her North End apartment, the scene of a deadly three-alarm blaze that killed her neighbor Thursday night.
Stankus, 29, said she barely escaped her third-floor apartment as it filled with smoke, leaving behind her engagement ring as a “fight or flight” instinct kicked in.
Less than 12 hours later, she had two questions — what happened and what happens next.
“It’s all gone. Everything,” Stankus said. “Time to rebuild our lives.”
Laura Stankus, at right, and her roommate, Kristen McGrory, look at their belongings scattered on the ground outside of their burned-out apartment at 245 Village Circle Way in Manchester on April 26, 2024.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
Manchester firefighters responded to 245 Village Circle Way, a three-story apartment building, at 10:48 p.m. Thursday after receiving the first of several calls reporting fire in the building.
Two adults, a man and a woman, were transported to Elliot Hospital in serious condition. The man, identified as William Halloran, 55, was pronounced dead after reaching the hospital, fire officials said.
The cause of his death was determined to be smoke inhalation, and the manner of his death was accidental.
Firefighters attack the fire with water Thursday night at 245 Village Circle Way in Manchester.
Jeffrey Hastings
Stankus said she was sleeping when a call from her roommate, Kristen McGrory, woke her up.
“I looked out my window and saw orange, and was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Stankus said. “I stuck my head out the window, the window was open, and saw crackling fire everywhere. I got dressed, grabbed my shoes, my keys and ran out. There was so much smoke, it was so heavy I had to run the length of the building and out the other side, away from the fire.”
Stankus said she lives in Unit 23, next door to Halloran, who lived in Unit 21.
“He came out in a stretcher, and had someone on top of him doing CPR,” Stankus said. “He was heavily burned. He was a nice guy, worked for FedEx. We would say hi to each other.”
Fire officials said the fire’s cause is under investigation. Stankus said she was told careless disposal of smoking materials in a nearby unit is to blame.
“This is a smoke-free community,” Stankus said. “I’ve complained about it before. I can smell cigarette smoke when I open my window.”
On Friday, Stankus was hoping to get inside and recover a few items, including her medication.
“The fire marshal told me no because ‘the roof is in your living room,’” Stankus said. “My unit and the guy next to my place were hit the hardest, he said. The fire just ripped right up the back of the place.”
A woman and child wear a blanket as they watch firefighters put out the fire at 245 Village Circle Way on Thursday night in Manchester.
Jeffrey Hastings
McGrory said she doesn’t know how her cat, Jinx, who will turn 13 in August, got out of the building in one piece.
“He’s got eight lives now,” she said.
Fire crews had to overcome issues with water supply and topography at the scene, Battalion Chief Jon Fosher said in a statement.
“The fire building presented itself with limited access to apparatus. The front of the building, being the only open side, required long stretches of fire hoses to the rear of the building. Most of the residents were at home due to the time of the incident,” according to the incident report. “That led to multiple rescues made by crews on the exterior and interior via ground ladders and interior stairwells.”
The fire was declared under control at 12:42 a.m.
Friday morning, a small ridge of firefighting foam resembling a pile of snow could be seen in the parking lot of 265 Village Circle Way, just behind and down a hill from the scene of the fire.
That’s where Shane Curran and Danielle Lemire live. Both were home as the fire raged nearby, but were unaware anything happened.
“We found out this morning,” Curran said. “I was shocked to see the damage, very surprised to not hear anything going on. I was watching the NFL Draft, I was up until 12 and still didn’t hear anything, which is crazy.”
“At 6 I was randomly on my phone, and I saw it,” Lemire said. “I saw the building and woke him up and we were like, ‘Oh, God.’ When we walked out, it was right in front of us. It was spooky.”
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the state Fire Marshal’s Office at 603-223-4289 or by email at fmo@dos.nh.gov.
